Matter of Winston R. Sanabia Alvarez v Leiny M. Jaquez Rubiera
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Attorneys and Parties
Brief Summary
International child support enforcement and registration of a foreign divorce judgment under Family Court Act article 5-B [New York's adoption of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA)].
The Family Court denied the mother's objections to a Support Magistrate's order that vacated registration of the Dominican Republic divorce judgment and dismissed, as academic, the mother's petition for child support arrears and an upward modification.
The Appellate Division reversed the order denying the mother's objections, vacated the Support Magistrate's September 11, 2024 order, denied the father's petition to vacate registration, confirmed registration of the foreign judgment of divorce, and remitted for a merits determination on arrears and modification.
The father failed to prove any statutory defense under Family Ct Act § 580-607(a) [lists the defenses available to contest the validity or enforcement of a registered support order or to seek vacatur of registration]. The later 2021 Dominican order addressed arrears only and did not modify or replace the ongoing child support obligation in the divorce judgment, and payment of those arrears did not defeat registration.
Background
The parties have one child together. In July 2016, a court in the Dominican Republic entered a judgment of divorce directing the father to pay monthly child support. In November 2021, that court issued a separate order requiring the father to pay accrued arrears for August through November 2021. The mother later moved with the child to the United States and registered the divorce judgment in Florida for enforcement. In June 2024, she registered the same judgment in Family Court, Westchester County, and sought arrears and an upward modification of child support. The father responded by petitioning to vacate the registration.
Lower Court Decision
The Support Magistrate granted the father's petition to vacate registration of the foreign judgment of divorce and dismissed the mother's petition as academic. The Family Court then denied the mother's objections and left that result in place.
Appellate Division Reversal
The Appellate Division held that New York permits registration of foreign support orders for enforcement under Family Ct Act § 580-601 [provides that a support order or income withholding order issued in another state or a foreign support order may be registered in New York for enforcement]. The court further held that the Dominican Republic qualifies as a foreign reciprocating country and that the father did not establish any of the claimed defenses under Family Ct Act § 580-607(a)(3), (6), or (8) [defenses that include modification by a later order, full or partial payment, or that the alleged controlling order is not the controlling order]. Because no statutory defense was proven, confirmation of the registration was required under Family Ct Act § 580-607(c) [requires confirmation of the registered foreign support order when no enumerated defense is established]. The matter was remitted for determination of the mother's arrears and upward-modification claims on the merits.
Legal Significance
This decision reinforces that, under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), challenges to a registered foreign support order are limited to the specific defenses listed in Family Ct Act § 580-607(a) [enumerates the exclusive defenses to validity or enforcement of a registered support order]. A later foreign order dealing only with a discrete arrears period does not, without proof of actual modification, displace the original order as the controlling support order. The ruling also confirms that support orders from the Dominican Republic may be registered and enforced in New York because it is a recognized foreign reciprocating country.
A parent seeking to block registration of a foreign child support order in New York must prove one of the narrow statutory defenses; paying arrears under a later order does not by itself nullify the original ongoing support judgment or prevent its registration and enforcement.